1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the handling of large bales of bulk material such as hay or silage with or without a containing wrap. More particularly, the invention relates to the handling of extremely large bales of the type described which are too heavy to be handled manually, and in particular, large rectangular cross section hay bales. The system includes the pick-up and moving or the loading of such bales onto the bed of a truck or other vehicle and subsequently unloading the bales for distribution as with range or bunk feeding of cattle or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years the trend in preserving hay in bales has been toward increasingly large size bales, far beyond the ability for manual handling. One approach is the production of large round bales several feet in diameter in the form of a layered roll which can then be pasture or range fed to cattle by simply unrolling the bale on the ground. The following listed patents are illustrative of prior art pick-up and transport equipment designed specifically for handling large cylindrical bales:
U.S. Pat. No. Patentee 3,942,666 Pfremmer 4,050,598 Schurz 4,103,794 Shaw 4,376,607 Gibson 4,594,041 Hostetler 5,288,193 Warburton et al 5,333,981 Pronovost et al 5,340,259 Flaskey
This method, however has serious problems of wastage since the cattle foul the hay and use it for bedding. More recently the trend has been toward the formation of large rectangular or square cross section bales in the neighborhood of 8 feet in length and having a cross section of up to 4.times.4 feet known as "big bales". Large bales of this category may weigh in the neighborhood of 1000 to 2000 pounds per bale, are cumbersome and create a serious handling problem. Such bales normally require some form of mechanized equipment for pickup, transport, stacking and ultimately distributing and feeding. The following listed patents are illustrative of prior art pick-up and transport equipment designed specifically for handling large rectangular bales:
 U.S. Pat. No. Patentee 4,952,111 Callahan 5,690,461 Tilley 5,846,046 Warburton
Although satisfactory equipment has been developed for unloading and field distribution of layered round bales by simply unrolling, the need exists for an efficient mechanism for loading, transporting and unloading for distribution and feeding of large square or rectangular bales. Most existing equipment is concerned only with field pick-up and stacking involving such methods as robotic lifting arms, tilt beds such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,405,229 and 5,542,803 to Tilley et al and Driggs respectively. These devices are not adapted for loading, transporting and feeding from a moving vehicle. Likewise common methods involving front end loaders and fork lifts require several pieces of equipment and operators and are thus uneconomical and time consuming. The following listed patents are illustrative of prior art pick-up and transport devices of the front end loader and elevator or fork-lift type equipment:
 U.S. Pat. No. Patentee 4,073,532 Blair 4,325,666 Chain et al 4,911,596 Fetter 5,082,413 Grosz et al 5,542,803 Driggs